The New Adventures of Babycakes

Sorry that the last entry was so long and winded. I think I forgot I wasn't writing a real letter. LOL So, we get Babycakes here and all is well. He came out of his cage very calmly, ran under my bed and slept for 2 hours. I guess he felt safe under there. Upon waking he promply ate and then started crying to go out. Does anyone know how to train an outside cat to a litter box? Well I didn't eather. I showed it to him, moved the litter around for him, and told him it was for him. He smelled it, turned around and just meowed at me. He really got frantic and kept scratching at the door, so I finally had to let him out. I knew he was gone for sure. I didn't see him that night or the next morning. I cried a little, and worried a lot. I watched for him all day and thought I saw him farther down the street. That night Bellla set up and alarm at the front door. I opened it after checking to see who it was. There was noone there. When I opened the door there he was, Babycakes, in all his glory. I got him to come in and eat, but after eating he wanted to go out again. To make a long story short, (I know, too late) he comes home every night to eat, spends the night on my deck and he is there in the morning till I feed him. After eating, he is gone to seek new adventures.

A New Home of All

Well we have finally finished moving and I have my trusty old computer back on line. The space bar seems to have gotten banged or something, because it sticks now. But, I digress. Bella and I are in our new home and Babycakes is finally here. It took me about three tries to catch him at the old house. The first morning I went back and he was meowing (cuss words I am sure from the sounds of it) at me before I even got all of the way out of the car. I had made this trip without Bella, in hopes that he would not put up to much of a fight going into the carrier I took with me. I thought the ride home would be easier minus Bella bouncing all over the car, trying to play with Babycakes in the carrier. Needless to say, it was a very unsuccessful trip. I left him food on the deck in hopes he would sty close till I could come back again. The next day I tried again, NO SUCCESS. More food was left and I went home defeated. Around 11Am that same day Bella was bouncing off the walls at the new place. I decided to take her for a ride to maybe calm her down. As we got in the car to leave, something just told me to go back and try again. So, with Bella in tow away I go. When we reached the old house and walked into the backyard I spotted Babycakes lounging on the deck in all his glory. The surprise is, is that he usually isn't there at that time of day. I let Bella off her leash and started putting food out for him in his "old" spot in his "old" bowl that I had in the car. He jumped up on the rail and started to eat. As he was eating i returned to the car and got the carrier. As I rounded the deck and he spotted it he started to run again. I quickly sat it down and started speaking "babytalk" to him. He let me touch him, pet him and I picked him up. Most cats when they are about to be stuffed into a carrier will splay all four legs and hiss and bite. Not him, he very calmly let me lower him into the carrier. the ride home was very uneventful and Bella even stayed calm all the way home.

BABYCAKES Pt. 4

BABYCAKES---The Outside Cat
As some of you know, we had a cat show up at our house back in the summer. It was after a big rain storm. He was huddled under our deck crying bloody murder. We couldn't get him to come out, so we lifted the access door to the deck. He still wouldn't come out. We imagined we heard kittens, thinking he was a "she" that had had kittens under the house so we fed him. Needless to say when my daughter got a look at "her" she said, "Mom, that is a male cat!" and I said "Are you sure?" She laughed and said, "yea, I see the proof as big as day." Well after a good laugh at our self we went on our merry way. We tried not feeding him for a couple of days thinking he would go home. He was a very well groomed cat, had a healthy coat, and loved our dogs. He wouldn't let anyone touch him. He would lay on the deck, play with the dogs, and finally let me start to pet him as he wound himself around my chair. Since it has turned cold we have tried to get him into the house for warmth. NO GO. Last night is was reported that we were in for 17 degree weather, but he still would not enter the house, so I picked him up and sat him just inside the door. I figured at least he could stay warm by the door where he was relaxed. After he got a little calmer I picked him up and placed him on an old towel in the living room floor. Susi, our resident mommy dog, lay right down and started cleaning him. Babycakes just lay there and let her do anything she wanted to. He is still there in the same spot this morning. He meowed at me when I walked through the living room, but didn't bother to move from his spot. So I guess he is happy to be out of the cold.

Farewell to My Friend

It is with a sad and broken heart that I write today. My friend Ruth has passed away. Her passing has left a great hole in our hearts that cannot be filled. As some of you know, she was also my children's step-mother. Since day one, we have always been civil to each other, with no malice in our hearts. Sometimes life hands you lemons. It is your choice what you do with them. She accepted my children into her life, if not exactly as one of her own, so close no one would notice. She will hold a special place in my heart forever.

Because of distance we did not become friends until I moved here. She was still working then, so we didn't get to see each other a lot. But when we did, it was just like we had been friends forever. We had made plans to sit on the porch of the "Old Folks Home" and make fun of everybody and to have wheelchair races in the halls. Now I guess I will have to it for both of us. Boy, will I be a bitch. LOL She would laugh at that. I can see her in heaven now shaking her head and saying "You go girl !" I never took the chance to let her know how much I thought of her because I thought I had plenty of time. I was wrong. So grab your best friend, or your loved one today and give them a big hug. Tell them it's from me and Ruth.

No Title

OK So how come I cannot think of a Title for my blog this morning? I'm not sure. So much has gone on this week. Big things like Christmas Eve and Christmas day. They are all over with now and it is officially "After" Christmas. The stores are having their annual sales and the kids are trying hard to find even half of the toys and do dads they got for Christmas. Mom's and Dad's all over the world are still cleaning up trash from Christmas morning. A stray bow here, a missed gift there. Little wads of wrapping paper stuffed in the strangest places. This is the time of year for the let downs. No more visits from the family, friends and added visitors to our homes. No more trips to the store for that one forgotten gift or ingredient that has to be put in the pumpkin pie. But, sometimes this is a good thing. Stress has reduced by 90%. Parents are sitting on their couches deflated by the sheer magnitude of power that has run through their house in the last three days. So, now is the time for de-stressing. Just remember this. NEW YEARS is coming

A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS POEM

This entry is dedicated to all of the members of the USMC, ARMY, AIRFORCE, NAVY, and RESERVES.

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight. My wife was asleep, her head on my chest, My daughter beside me, angelic in rest. Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white, Transforming the yard to a winter delight. The sparkling lights in the tree I believe, Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve. My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep, Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep. In perfect contentment, or so it would seem, So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream. The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near, But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear. Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow. My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear, And I crept to the door just to see who was near. Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night, A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight. A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old, Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold. Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled, Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child. 'What are you doing?' I asked without fear, 'Come in this moment, it's freezing out here! Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve, You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!' For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift, Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts. To the window that danced with a warm fire's light Then he sighed and he said 'Its really all right, I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.' 'It's my duty to stand at the front of the line, That separates you from the darkest of times. No one had to ask or beg or implore me, I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me. My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,' Then he sighed, 'That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers.' My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ', And now it is my turn and so, here I am. I've not seen my own son in more than a while, But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile. Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag, The red, white, and blue... an American flag. I can live through the cold and the being alone, Away from my family, my house and my home. I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet, I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat. I can carry the weight of killing another, Or lay down my life with my sister and brother.. Who stand at the front against any and all, To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.' ' So go back inside,' he said, 'harbor no fright, Your family is waiting and I'll be all right.' 'But isn't there something I can do, at the least, 'Give you money,' I asked, 'or prepare you a feast? It seems all too little for all that you've done, For being away from your wife and your son.' Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret, 'Just tell us you love us, and never forget. To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone, To stand your own watch, no matter how long. For when we come home, either standing or dead, To know you remember we fought and we bled. Is payment enough, and with that we will trust, That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.'

PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN 30th Naval Construction Regiment OIC, Logistics Cell One Al Taqqadum, Iraq

Sunday, December 21, 2008

WHY?

This is what I keep asking myself every morning my eyes open up at the "BUTT CRACK OF DAWN", as my daughter so lovingly puts it. She phrased this little jewel one morning when she woke up and her kids were already up, but that is another story. I use to hate to get up and would literally have to be drug out of bed to go to school, work or wherever I had to be. Sleep was my friend, my lover, my protector. Now every morning I am up at the "butt crack of dawn". I am not the type of person that can just roll back over and go back to sleep. When I wake up, I am up for the day. So, where do I have to be this early? NOWHERE ! I do not work, or go to school, or even have to be up for anyone else. So, pray tell me, WHY?